1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for heating liquid and, more particularly, to such a method and apparatus which are operable to heat liquids, such as water and the like, more effectively and with greater versatility than has heretofore been possible.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art is replete with devices for heating liquids for a multiplicity of uses. These devices include boilers, water heaters, heat exchangers, heat systems and a wide variety of other types of systems adapted for the same or similar purposes. Such prior art devices can variously be characterized as to their similarities and dissimilarities. However, all such prior art devices known to the applicant intentionally, or as a necessary consequence, produce a vapor phase of the liquid, such as steam in the case of water, or are susceptible to its formation at some point during the operation thereof. For example, steam heating systems have long been employed in both public buildings and private dwellings to render such structures habitable. Similarly, steam has been used as the source of energy for a variety types of equipment including industrial and agricultural machinery, locomotives, automobiles and the like.
It is known that the formation of such vapor produces several undesirable side effects in such devices. For example, the conversion of water into steam causes impurities within the water to precipitate and, over time, to form deposits on internal surfaces. Such deposits ultimately interfere with the operation and effective functioning of such equipment. Valves, pumps and the like malfunction requiring cleaning, repair or replacement. Furthermore, such deposits interfere with fluid pressures and ultimately may completely occlude fluid passages. Still further, thermal conductivity may be significantly reduced. Accordingly, the design and maintenance of such equipment takes into account both the retardation of development and the periodic removal of these deposits. Typically, additives are introduced to the water in an effort to inhibit the formation of such deposits. Obstructed components must be disassembled and cleaned or replaced. These remedies have their own undesirable consequences including the expense thereof.
Perhaps a more significant disadvantage in the usage of many types of equipment which produce steam, or other liquid vapor, is the fact that the vapor phase of a liquid is a much less effective thermal conductor than is its liquid state. As a consequence, in those systems where thermal conductivity is a desired result, once the liquid changes phase to vapor the system operates much less efficiently than prior thereto.
A still further disadvantage of conventional liquid heating systems is their lack of versatility. Conventionally, such systems, once designed, are not adapted to any significant adjustment or modification, either as to the quantities or temperatures produced, or as to the usages to which the end product can be directed. It is well known, for example, that manufacturing plants, office buildings, hospitals, hotels, laundries, apartment complexes and even private dwellings require heated water in a variety of conditions and that these requirements may vary over time. Thus, heated water may be required in two or more different temperatures and in different volumes for usage at different rates. Conventional systems do not possess the versatility satisfactorily to meet these needs.
Therefore, it has long been known that it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus for heating liquid which operate substantially more effectively to produce heated liquid in accordance with the precise requirements of the area of application; which operate significantly more efficiently than has heretofore been possible with prior art devices; which avoid the disadvantages associated with the production of the vapor phase of the liquid; which substantially preclude the development of deposits which, over time, interfere with operation of conventional systems; which possess a versatility not previously available in prior art devices directed to the same purpose; and which are otherwise entirely effective in achieving their operational objectives.